QER's "Fuel For Thought" - Queensland Energy Resources

QER’s “Fuel For Thought”

Fuel for thought

Our Country… Our Community

We are so fortunate to live in this beautiful part of the world, despite its harshness, as Dorothea Mackellar so beautifully expressed it in her famous poem “My Country”. But the beauty is not just in the landscape. It’s even more so in the spirit of our community.

December 1, 2018

Fuel for thought

Snakes and Ladders

These days, you don’t often see the old game snakes and ladders, which is a shame because there are lessons in that game for life and business.

November 15, 2018

Fuel for thought

State of Origin Reflections

I thought our State of Origin players did themselves proud on Sunday night, despite criticisms of a few armchair commentators. Of course there were a couple of little brain snaps – but that’s to be expected in such a pressure situation.

July 1, 2018

Fuel for thought

Ecofest this Weekend

QER is again this year a proud sponsor and participant in Gladstone Ecofest. This year’s theme is ‘Turn a new leaf, love our reef’. It’s a terrific community event in which families, community groups, local business and industry come together to celebrate the amazing environment we live in and to focus on initiatives to keep it that way.

June 1, 2018

Fuel for thought

Federal Government Recognizes Fuel Security Imperative

Perhaps the most important reason for QER to develop a Queensland kerogen fuels industry – starting here in Gladstone – is to help improve Australia’s fuel security situation. These days Australia is heavily dependent on oil and fuel imports to meet most of our freight, transport, agriculture, mining, defense and aviation needs.

May 15, 2018

Fuel for thought

Lighting up the Harbour

Congratulations to everyone involved in this year’s Gladstone Harbour festival. The weekend was a great success and a credit to the organizers, the sponsors, and especially the many volunteers who freely give up so much time to make the event a success.

April 1, 2018

Fuel for thought

Indigenous Ranger Program a Great Idea

I recently visited the Indigenous Land and Sea Ranger base here in Gladstone. The program is sponsored by the Port Curtis Coral Coast Trust, industry, and the Queensland Department of Environment and Science. It is the product of a lot of hard work by the Gidarjil Development Corporation.

March 16, 2018

Fuel for thought

Where Did That Come From?

Surveys have found that many kids don’t know where their food comes from (they often say ‘the supermarket’), nor their electricity or water. Understandably, they have no direct experience of many of the things we take for granted as a normal part of life in a prosperous country like Australia.

March 1, 2018

Fuel for thought

Street Science

Isn’t it amazing how, over time, humans have been able to overcome seemingly insurmountable problems. Very often, underlying these solutions, is science. Science is really just a way to understand the world we live in through systematic observations and experiments.

February 16, 2018

Fuel for thought

Tending the Gardens

I recently saw that Gladstone’s own Tondoon Botanic Gardens will feature in Australian Geographic as one of Australia’s top ten regional botanic gardens. Thie year we’ll also celebrate the Gardens’ 30th Birthday. The Gardens have come a long way from their humble beginnings, and there’s no doubt they are now an important and unique part of life in Gladstone.

February 1, 2018

Fuel for thought

Self-Sufficiency: An Australian Trait

As always, at this time of year, there is lots of reflection (and dare I say it, argument) about the qualities that make this such a great country. We often hear about mateship and the fair go. But one of our core values that doesn’t get so much air time, but which I think is also an important aspect of our character, is self-sufficiency.

January 26, 2018

Fuel for thought

Back to Work!!!

I hope you’ve had (or are still having) a great break over the festive season. It’s a wonderful time to be together with family and friends and for that well-earned rest and reflection. However, as they say, no rest for the wicked, so at QER we’re back at work and straight into it.

January 5, 2018

Fuel for thought

In the Right Direction

If you follow this column, you’ll realise that at QER, one of our favourite things to do is watching the world oil price. I know… we need to get some more interesting hobbies. But from QER’s point of view, the oil price is an indicator of how close we are to being able to finance a commercial project.

November 1, 2017

Fuel for thought

PCCC Representative Honoured

Congratulations to Dr Kerry Blackman who last week was honoured by CQU. Kerry is a representative of the Port Curtis Coral Coast Indigenous group which includes people of Baiali, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng and Taribelang Bunda peoples, who traditional lands include the Gladstone through to Bundaberg areas.

October 1, 2017

Fuel for thought

The Importance of Australian Fuel

Like most people, I worry about events in the world at the moment – especially the conflict that seems to be escalating on the Korean Peninsula. One aspect that we don’t often think about is how interdependent we are with countries like Korea and Japan.

September 1, 2017

Fuel for thought

Not Rocket Science

I recently was fortunate to hit the big smoke to attend a three day gathering of people from the resources industry Australia wide, who work with communities. The gathering was organized by the International Council of Mining and Metals.

August 1, 2017

Fuel for thought

Up Boat Creek

Some members of QER’s Retort Feed Test Unit (RFTU) Operations team recently took some time out to work on the Boat Creek Rehabilitation Project. QER has participated in this community project for several years.

July 1, 2017